Kailwat-tie plate



C. W. RUTH.

- RAILWAY TIE PLATE. APPLICATION man mm: 2. me. RENEWED FEB. 26, 1919.

1,316,649. Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

UNITED sTArEs PATENT OFFICE- coNANT RUTH, or WAKEFIELD, MAssAcHusnr'rs.

RAILWAY-TIE PL TE.

Application filed June 2, 1916, Serial No. 101,371.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, OoNANT W. RUTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wakefield, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have inventedcer tain Improvements in Railway-Tie Plates,of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawingsindicating like parts in the several figures.

It isnow comparatively common in railway construction to use a tie plateof some description between the rails and the ties that support them.These plates are de signed to-accomplish one or more of the followingobjects: first, to prevent the rails from cutting into the ties, second,to pre vent the rails from creeping longitudinally on grades; and third,to support the rails against the forces tending to spread them apart orto tip over the outer rails on curves. While a great variety of devicesof this general character have been proposed heretofore, only a very'fewof these constructions have attainedany substantial degree of commercialsuccess and these have not proved entirely satisfactory, due usuallyeither to the fact that they cannot be relied upon to perform thefunctions for which they were intended, or else that they are soexpensive, either in first cost or in the cost of the labor required inusing them, that they can only be used in places where some device ofthis characterisabsolutely necessary.

The present invention has for its chief object to devise a tie platewhich can be economically manufactured and easily installed and willsatisfy the practical requirements of devices of this character. Theinvention will be readily understood from the following description,reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 isa perspective view of a tie plate embodying the invention in the formnow preferred by me, and

Fig. 2 is a vertical, cross sectional view taken substantially on theline 22, Fig. 1, and illustrating the manner in which the plate is used.

The construction shown in the drawings comprises a main plate 2, whichmay be made out of any suitable material such, for instance, asmalleable iron or steel. An aperture 4 is formed through this plate andtwo rail holding lugs 6 are formed on 1t.

pee fi of ters Re ina Patented Sept. 23, 191 9.

Renewed February 26, 1919. Serial No. 279,414.

one endof' theplate 2 to receive a spike 9 (see Fig.2). Asmaller plate10 fits loosely 1n the slot or aperture 4 formed in the main plate '2and is provided with an upturned lip 12, which is shaped to fit over oneedge of the base of the rail 14, as clearly shown in Fig. 2; If theaperture 4 is formed by punchingmaterial out of the plate 2, as abovedescribed, the part of the plate so punched out, and which otherwisewould be scrapped, may be utilized to make the plate 10. In any eventthis plate should be of substantially the same thickness as the mainplate 2 so that it willfill theslot 4 vertically when in its normal oroperative position.

In using this device, the plate 2 is posithese screws are turned downtightly, the

tapered parts 20 crowd into the space he tween the outer edge of the lip12: and the outer wall of the aperture 4 and: force the lip of the plate10 into its rail clamping position, as shown in Fig. 2. Theopposite-edge ofthe base of the rail, of course, has previously beenositioned under the ends of the lugs 6, w ich limit the sliding movement of the rail over the plate in this direction; and consequently,when the lag screws 18 are turned down securely theyserve not only theirordinary functions of fastening the rail, and incidentally the tieplate, to the tie 16, but they also clamp the base of the rail securelybetween the parts 12 and 6. Any substantial slippingor creeping of therail on a grade thus is prevented. Preferably the outer wall of theaperture 4 is notched or slightly scalloped, as indicated at 22, toafford a better seat for the conical parts 20 of the two lag screws 18.This wall of the aperture 4 backs up the lag screws and facilitatestheir crowding action on the clamping plate 10 as above described.

It is obvious that this tie plate can be economically manufactured andthat its use requires an amount of additional labor so small as to beimmaterial. The lag screws used are similar to those much used inrailway construction. Preferably the lag'screws 18 are placed on theinside of the rail, that is, between the two rails, so that any tendencyof the rail 1% to spread away from its companion rail is resisted byboth the lag screws 18 and by the spike 9. It will also be evident thatany tendency of the rail to tip over will be effectually resisted by thetwo lag screws 18, both of which would have to be pulled partially outof the tie before the rail could be tipped appreciably.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A railway tie plate, having one or more rail holding lugs formedintegral therewith, and having an aperture formed therethrough towardwhich said lugs point, a rail clamping member arranged to fit loosely insaid aperture, but of such dimensions as to leave a space for thepassage of a rail fastening device between said member and the outerwall of said aperture.

2. A device of the character described comprising a fiat plate having anaperture formed therethrough, one or more rail holding lugs integralwith said plate and extending toward said aperture, and another plateshaped to fit loosely in said aperture and having a rail holding lipformed along its edge opposite said lugs and extendng toward said lugs,said plates being of substantially the same thickness.

3. The combination of a railway tie, a plate supported on said tie, arail resting on said plate, a device overlying one edge of the base ofsaid rail to limit the movement of the rail toward one end of the plate,said plate having an aperture formed therethrough near its opposite end,and means for crowding the base of said rail against said device, saidmeans comprising amember threaded into said tie and extending throughsaid aperture between said rail and the outer wall of said aperture, andhaving a tapered head arranged to bear against said wall.

4:. The combination with a tie, of a tie plate resting on said tieand-having an aperture formed therethrough, a rail supported on. saidplate, a rail clamping plate of substantially the same thickness as saidtie plate constructed to fit in said aperture under said rail and havingan upturned lip overlying one edge of the base of the rail, one or morelugs integral with said tie plate and overlying the opposite edge of thebase of said rail, and one or more lag screws extending through saidaperture into the tie and cooperating with the wall of said aperture tocrowd said clamping plate into its rail clamping position.

5. The combination of a railway tie, a plate supported on said tie andhaving an aperture formed therethrough, a rail resting on said plate,means near one end of said plate constructed to overlie one edge of thebase of said rail, a smaller plate positioned in said aperture under therail and having a rail clamping lip overlying the opposite edge of thebase of said rail, and rail fastening means extending through saidaperture into said tie and constructed and shaped to bear against theouter edge of said clamping plate and the outer wall of said aperture,and to crowd said lip into clamping engagement with the base of saidrail.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CONANT W. RUTH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

